The Great Severance
A Brief Summary The Great Severance was a turning point for the new inhabitants of Ythanica. Once the chaos of building a new settlement had subsided, leaders in the community exchanged ideas for the future of their people. Radically divisive ideals led to a splitting of the original settlers into three factions, which would later develop into the three nations of the realm: Thaedra, Valaris, and Felmarr. Thaedra The first faction to sever ties from the Vanguard of Genesis Port were the Thaedrans, led by Loras Thae. Once a philosopher in the Barrens, Loras believed in a strong, centralized government run by a select few. This system of government became the basis upon which the nation of Thaedra was founded. The Thaedrans resolved to secede from the port city and venture deep into the mountains of the North to construct their new kingdom, shielded by the snow and isolated from the realm. The Vanguard feared a rival nation, and they prepared to prevent the secession with force. The Great Severance may have been stopped in its tracks, were it not for a momentous discovery by Loras himself. While on a scouting party to search for habitable locations in the ice, Loras had discovered the Ulendrum, an ancient text believed to be written by the Harbingers. To date, is it the only sign of intelligent life in the realm prior to the Vanguard. The book contained a great evil, but Loras was strong of will. It granted him immense knowledge and showed him how to manipulate a new power - arcane magic. He would later become the first arcanist. Returning to Genesis Port, Loras flaunted his new power for all to see, forcing the Vanguard to concede. The Thaedrans would sacrifice their ideals no longer. The nation of Thaedra had begun to take shape, and The Great Severance was set in motion. All years after this day would come to be marked AGS (After Great Severance). The Thaedrans traveled North in search of a new beginning. Under cover of snow and stone, they built a capital city within the mountains, Frosthaven. At its helm, a great keep was constructed for the elite governing body that Loras had envisioned. In the year 1 AGS, Loras Thae was crowned High King Loras I and granted dominion over the nation of Thaedra. Thaedra prospered for many years, until the rise of The Ivory Order in 38 AGS destroyed the fragile peace. Valaris After the departure of the Thaedrans, the citizens of Genesis Port were left with the pressing question of how to move forward. They had been completely powerless to stop an insurrection, and it was now uncertain whether their ideal future, a world without a central governing body, could truly exist. Their first order of business was to elect an official leader, one who could unite the people and preserve their future. The people chose Eoric Valor, a hunter and champion of the people who had been crucial to the construction of the port and the early survival of the settlement. Fearful of the tyranny of the Barrens, the people named him Warden, rather than King. Eoric, now old and weary, had gained a great deal of knowledge and wisdom in his many years. He knew the people would have to unite under a single banner once more to preserve their fragile unity. As the Grand Warden of the Vanguard, Eoric's first decree was to declare Genesis Port the capital of a new nation, which he called Valaris, to which his people, the Valeri, would now belong. Valaris enjoyed some degree of order for nearly three decades. After Eoric's passing, however, the remaining leaders of Valaris became obsessed with the wealth of the nation, hell-bent on becoming superior to their rival nation in the North. Laborers from the port city traveled further and further South, mining and gathering. The free-trade markets of the Valeri made them rich, but their riches turned them sour. Poverty and despair would force citizens to turn to theft; thus, the nightshades were born. In 29 AGS, Valaris suffered another secession. An extremist by the name of Kren Felrogg was consumed by the fear of war. He masked his fears with hate speech and criticism of the Valeri's corrupt governing body, urging his supporters to follow him to the far South and begin a life of security and peace. The remaining leaders of Valaris were not as wise as Eoric Valor had been, and they decided to allow "The Fel" as Kren's followers called themselves, to leave in good grace, so long as the new nation traded with Valaris for its valuable clay in the South. Once more the greed of the Valeri failed them. The Fel agreed to the terms, but they would never honor their agreement. Felmarr The rise of Felmarr was swift. The Fel were born from hatred and fear; their kingdom was built for the sole purpose of war. Their new city, Al Sahar, was built in the far South, in the heart of the desert. In its center lay a villa, from which Kren Felrogg oversaw the heavy fortification of the city's walls and construction of a gladiator arena. Kren was determined to train The Fel and build the greatest army in the realm. His resentment of the Valeri's greed and the Thaedrans' sense of superiority was projected onto his followers, and they gladly trained for combat. They invented a new combat style, one which was reckless and bloodthirsty; they would soon become the realm's first berserkers. The Fel saw their leader as the strongest among them, and as such, they named him the Chief Warlord of the nation. Kren declared that future Warlords would be decided by a display of battle prowess in the arena. The Fel prepared for combat with Thaedra and Valaris, but they did not expect the war that followed instead. A new enemy festered in secret. The rise of The Ivory Order was just beginning.